A distinguished assembly of experts from academia,
government and the medical field gathered at the LBJ School on September 21-22
for a conference focusing on health care issues affecting aging Latinos. The
event, billed as "Key Issues in Hispanic Health and Health Care Policy
Research," was the second conference in the "Aging in the Americas"
series and was organized by LBJ School Professor Jacqueline
L. Angel and Pennsylvania State University Professor
Keith Whitfield. Its purpose, according to opening remarks by Angel, was "to
examine the new challenge to all nations of this hemisphere," noting
that soon one-fifth of the population of the Americas will be age 60 or over.

Julio Frenk Mora, secretary of health for the Mexican Ministry
of Health, delivered a keynote speech titled "Globalization and Health:
Risks and Opportunities along Our Common Border," in which he described
how distinctions between domestic and international issues are fading in an
era of increased globalization and world travel.

Julio Frenk Mora

"Consequences of events far away show up on our doorsteps,"
Frenk said, citing historical and contemporary examples. He discussed the
problem of transmigration of health care providers between the U.S. and Mexico,
the effect of emigration on Latin American and U.S. demographics and economics,
and how social exclusion is a factor in globalized health issues. The threat
of international terrorism and bio-terrorism, said Frenk, is also a global
health issue, affirming that "health affairs are universal and a bridge
to peace."

A series of panels convened so key investigators and researchers
could present their current analytic work, debate their findings, and hold
discussions. Even the threat of Hurricane Rita did not stop an intrepid delegation
from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston from attending the
panel on the health consequences of Hispanic mortality. Other roundtables
looked at policies involving immigration, physical disabilities, barriers
to acquiring health insurance, and the effects of chronic poverty.

The poster session featured the work of researchers engaged
in population health, health care policy and aging studies. All participants
were recognized with awards, with the first place award going to Andres Vargas,
a graduate student in the UT Austin Department of Economics.

Ronald Angel

The closing speech was given by Ronald Angel, Professor
of Sociology at UT Austin and author of the forthcoming book, Poor Families
in America's Health Care Crisis: How the Other Half Pays. Angel spoke
about prospective political solutions to the problems noted by the previous
speakers, evaluating various plans that have been put forward to address America's
health care crisis and summarizing the political battles that have been waged
in each case. Angel noted that poor Hispanics, especially Mexican Americans,
the most underinsured population in the country, face greater health threats
than other Americans. The current system, he said, has worked well for the
major players of the health insurance industry and the middle-class but not
for 47 million uninsured and more underinsured, who lack political clout.
But, he added, with costs going up all the time, the working and middle classes
are hurting and will find common ground with the poorer classes.

Angel sees some form of taxpayer-funded universal health
care as "inevitable" sooner or later. "The whole debate must
be shaped by values," he said, adding that access to preventive and acute
health care is something that "a civilized society should offer to its
citizens. The health of everyone depends on the health of everyone else."